SEO thoughts
Everyone knows that I own the davidgagne.net domain name. I also own the davidgagne.org and the davegagne.org domains. Here’s my question: Should I configure those two domains to redirect to this one? Or should I set them to be mirrors of this one? Dreamhost gives me both options, and I’m trying to decide which one makes more sense. I know some screwball side-effects can arise if you redirect. But creating mirrors seems fishy, too. Your thoughts?
davidgagne.net is the personal weblog of me, David Vincent Gagne. I've been publishing here since 1999, which makes this one of the oldest continuously-updated websites on the Internet.
A few years ago I was trying to determine what cocktails I could make with the alcohol I had at home. I searched the App Store but couldn't find an app that would let me do that, so I built one.
You can read dozens of essays and articles and find hundreds of links to other sites with stories and information about Ernest Hemingway in The Hemingway Collection.
Definitely redirect, just make sure it is a 301.
My personal preference would be to redirect. You’re right in that a mirror would just seem … fishy and might turn off some people from coming back. I’d redirect and squash the bugs as they come up.
301 Redirect. No question.
301
301 redirect. Otherwise duplicate content issues will devalue your posts.
Just don’t use the alternate domains.
Why not convert them to sleaze-porn? Assuming you’re trying to drive traffic, nothing says “Wait, this isn’t what I wanted…or is it? (cue B- 70’s disco music)” quite like unexpected bestiality. I refer you to former whitehouse.org scam.
Seriously, think of the great night’s sleep that would arrive every evening for years to come, knowing you are pilfering the pockets of greasy, pocket-protector stat-nerds who crave the sight of illicit dolphin sex and morbidly obese 3-ways. Two words: CASH COW.
301 redirect. (I also think the “duplicate content penelty” is a bull **** myth.
It’s not a myth, Mr Haddad. It’s not so much a “penalty” that will get you banned like Bruce Clay’s link farm, but it will devalue your content. I agree there are a lot of myths like the Google Sandbox (not the API testing tool) but the “sandbox” all new sites are supposedly forced into. That’s a bunch of smoke SEOs invented to tell their clients who aren’t ranking. But having the exact same content, on another domain, will definitely lesson the value of the content. Google takes the DMCA very seriously. Even if it is your own stuff, they hate duplicates. Syndicating and aggregating are different and are mostly done for the backlink.
I meant lessen not “lesson.”